Bubbled water in a glass

Bubbled water in a glass, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I tried googling re" glasses with etchings on them"....but found nothing much apart from musical etchings. If you order water ( at least in the restaurants I ate in) you get served with glasses like this with little numbers at the side. Am I correct in guessing it's also used to serve beer? Picture taken in a rather nice restaurant where I had the traditional Viennese dish served with coins of potatoes. It was nice and warm indoors...:)

Popcorner

Popcorner, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

It's true! You really should invest in good advertising. And as advertising goes, striking colors count for a lot. This is how I came to be in the possession of just such a picture. It's a small shop off one of the lanes in Vienna. When I walked pass, it was empty but I have since googled the shop and pictures of the inside features loads of colourful popcorn and many more people in the shop. I really should have bought a packet to taste!!! Please click here to visit a website which features more pictures of the inside and what they sell!


Popcorner
Naglergasse 3
1010 Wien

Cleaning windows

Cleaning windows, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I can't merge the two pictures so it'll have to be in two separate posts. Window cleaning! No wonder the view through them is crystal clear. In this picture is a man dressed in overalls ( which if you scroll to the next post appears to be the uniform for cleaning windows. Makes sense...while you're perched like so...you wouldn't want to be worried about your pants falling off. How sensible.

The other thing is, I bought a ladder recently. It's about half the height of this....and lemme just say this man is amazing getting all the way to the top and washing away. I got midway up mine and came right down.

more window cleaning

more window cleaning, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

A closer look at the outfit for cleaning windows. Love the cheerful colours:) If you google, there's quite a number of companies for cleaning windows. Questions they need to know...
1. How do you want them cleaned? Both inside and outside/inside only/outside only
2. Do you have screens to be removed and cleaned also? yes/no
3. How many stories is your home? select one....
4. Would you like to schedule routine window washing? Yes monthly/Yes quarterly/no,just this time/don't know/other

Gorgeous stairs

Gorgeous stairs, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Seen at H&M in Vienna. No super escalator for you ...but instead you get to walk up these gorgeous stairs. It's so nice you can almost forget you're actually climbing up a couple of flights....

Pastries in Vienna

Pastries in Vienna, originally uploaded by edina

Please help me understand why pastries in Malaysia cannot taste anything close to these lovely ones in Vienna? This was taken at the u-bahn station Kasiermuhlen just beside the wall where you can buy your ticket for the tube.

A cold mid-morning

A cold mid-morning, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

The natural history museum is an imposing building. Even if you didnt know what it was ( like me) I'm pretty certain you would have walked towards it. Here's the weird thing about Vienna which I found, the signs leading to any lovely buildings are very subtly placed. So unless you're armed with a map....you may have to walk very close and ( I did this) enter the building to find out what it is.

The line to take would be either U2 or U3 and you'ld want to exit out of Volkstheatre station. Just in front of this building is a bit of garden with some fountains and benches to sit. Nobody sat there when we were there because it was raining. And yes I got to use my rather expensive umbrella purchased on day 1 in Vienna:) I have nothing much to report about the inside of this building. But I believe there are virtual video tours for those of you aching to see what this houses:)

Albertina Musuem....

Neptune or Zeus fountain..which is it?

The south entrance I think.

I was taken by the fountain. A quick walk here main reason was to buy tickets at the opera house for the evening performance. And then a quick walk back to the conference place for some academic brain learning:)

Traditional Viennese food!

Pancake soup

This was taken on my second day in Vienna. This was dinner. And I picked this shop because I was so hungry and tired I just wanted to sit down and eat. It was a shop off the main street and had a small crowd already there. ( Very important! I wouldnt have gone to an empty shop) I picked the set meal which costs 11 euros I think minus the bubbly water I had. The soup was salty but warm and comforting. I thought it was nice but towards the end it just got too salty for me. ( I did however finish it in stages together with bites of the main dish)

Wiener Schnitzel and my map to the left of the picture

Here it is. Traditional Austrian fare. Instead of pork this was chicken. And the little coins of potatoes were a nice change from fried chips....and the lime was left alone because I wasn't too sure what to do with it. I think I did squeeze it onto the chicken eventually. But I preferred it without. It's very think ( I later read this was pounded slightly...tenderized I mean) and the whole entire meat is crispy. So I guess the oil must be nice and hot...and it certainly didn't taste of mucky oil ( like some recycled oil found in stalls in Malaysia) So, this was an enjoyable meal

Apple Strudel

This was pretty decent. We have great apple strudel in Malaysia too. So I wasn't too excited.  But I liked the main dish very much!!

Der Liebe Augustin

Walking down a street on day 1

Welcome to Griechenbeisl , which is the oldest inn in Vienna dating back to 1447.(This I know from my mini-internet search just a while back). I found this on day one. This was taken around 8:15am with minimal people around. The folks I met were people walking in a hurry to open their shops. I was possibly the only tourist about at that hour. At that time I didn't know that, so I wrongly assumed Vienna was quiet and devoid of tourists. You can just make out the wet roads. It started raining again about 10 minutes after this picture was taken. This time a steady flow with got progressively heavier. And it continued right into the night. 

A random shot....which shows something of interest!

Okay let's try and write more about this place. Here's what I found:
Opening hours: daily 11am – 12.30pm
Kitchen hours: daily 11am – 11.30pm
Closed: only December 24

No wonder the place was all quiet and deserted at this hour:) You can taste authentic vienese cuisine here. And possibly imagine having a meal with the other famous folks who supposedly supped here as well. Here are the list of folks; Beethevon, Schubert, Strauss and Wagner.  Sadly I didn't enjoy a meal here. But on the up side. Going through my pictures and finding interesting tourist spots is very fulfilling in a weird way.

Do you see the words Der Liebe Augustin in the second picture?    In 1679 , the people of Vienna suffered from the plague. Nobody ventured out much. Liebe Augustin was a poet, bagpiper and minstrel would sing and drink.The story is that he passed out cold at the side of the road and was picked up by the plague sweepers and thrown into the plague pit.  He woke up ( shocked I'm sure by being surrounded by horrendously ill folks around him) played the bagpipes ( luckily for him he still had it ) until help came and he was rescued. He didn't die from the plague and lived for many years on. Did his humour or the wine save him from the plague??

Volkstheatrer

The exit from the u-ban to the open space

My googling the night before led me here. Main place of interest was the museum quarter. It was wet and windy. I was really pleased I caved in and bought an umbrella on the first day. Otherwise I would have ended up wet and cold. And I may have bought a "vienna" umbrella. Instead I have a lovely navy blue umbrella plain and simple which may be used for many years to come hopefully.

Volkstheater Neustiftgasse 1, Vienna, Austria on a wet morning!

This I saw en route to the musuem quarter. I didn't google the exact directions so I wandered about a bit. So here's what I've since found out about this building.  Volkstheater was opened in 1889. And it is one of the largest theater in the German speaking world. It seats 970. And now I really wished I had caught a musical here. And did you know, only German language shows are produced!

Peterskirche

As seen from Graben

 I knew this was important. Yes I did! And so I have a shot of this Baroque era church to add to my collection. I actually have two shots on two different days. But this one was the nicer of the two. Once again I didn't go in because I was hungry and wanted some food.  If you realise this is possibly a very early church which has stood here since the second half of the 4th century you may well get excited about this shot too. It's actually squeezed in between some buildings so I could be forgiven for thinking it's just another church. Yes yes...philistine that's what I yam!

What you see if you face the Street

This was the only reason I took some shots...because there were others ( who obviously did their homework) taking pictures. More before I decided to whisk my camera out to take some shots.

Maltese Church

Malteserkirche

If you walk along  Kärntner Straße , which as a tourist you will feel duty bound to do...you may come across this church. I missed it the first time I walked down the street. My shallow mind and eyes zoomed in only on the possible shopping along this lovely pedestrianized street. The entrance is just that. A size of a single dooe with empty beige walls on either side. The sign to the right of the picture above is small. I only found out this place was listed on Tripadvisor when I googled places of interest in Vienna.( After returning home from trip). Hehe! Moral of the story, either you google extensively before your trip...and like me take pictures of interest to you and proceed to have fun when you get home.

A closer peek inside

In the reflection you can see the souvenir  shop opposite this church and people walking past without realising what they are walking pass.

With the zoom mode

I didn't go inside, something I'm regretting now. So here's a picture I took from the main door. You can see it isn't very long and the altar looks very grand and it attracts you somehow. This piece was painted in 1730 which is a pretty long time ago. This is a Roman Catholic Gothic church. ( What does Gothic mean? Remind me to google that after posting this.) And it has been restored in stages, the last being in 1998. There's a little bit of history for you. You won't find this place listed in the top list of places to visit in Vienna. So I'm pretty proud of myself having luckily taken a few pictures.

Donnerbrunnen fountain Vienna

I don't have many pictures because it didnt know it was a landmark until now

Yes I've been a little obsessed about finding names for the numerous shots I took in my speedy walk through Vienna during the ERS. Pretty proud of my legs having walked so fast and far and my camera for directing me to objects of interest. This was taken while walking about the First district in Vienna...which I've since read is where most tourists spend their time. ( Here's an interesting fact, the Vienesse consider an address from the first district to be equivalent with an academic degree or a noble name. ) Can you blame us? There's enough architecture and (ahem) shopping to keep you from wandering far. The fountain itself looks mighty nice but the surrounding wasn't grand. They had car parks and roads so it's sometimes depending on traffic occluded by cars. 

Here are some facts about this fountain:

1. It is actually called Providentiabrunnen ( ya a mouthful I know). The sculptor was Georg Raphael Donner. 

2. It was featured in " Before sunrise" starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

3. The four figures represent the four main rivers of the Austrian heartlands. The two male ones are those of Upper Austria and the femal ones lower Austria

4. These are actually copies made out of bronze. The orginal figures are housed somewhere else. Very long name I can't remember.

This building caught my eye before the fountain.

This is a supermarket. A bit upmarket I know this from peeking through the glass walls. I didn't go in because what would I do with a piece of raw meat in a hotel I tell you:) I read somewhere that the the locals do not buy in bulk instead they choose to buy daily and have fresh stuff. An interesting thing. I want to practice this...I think. 

Steffl

Steffl taken from a distance (Smokers they're everywhere uurgh)

What so special about this department store? Mozart lived and died here. And he also wrote and completed The Requiem and The Magic Flute here.Currently located at Kärntner Straße 19. It was founded in 1895. It owes its name to the Stephansdom tower.And yes I bought my two Longchamp bags here for a very good price. 

The glass lift....it was a scary experience

 This was the glass lift in Steffl. I took it because I was tired. So I travelled from level 6 right down to the basement with my nose almost pressed against the glass just to see what it was like. Not so good for the tummy but I got a nice video shot:)

Longchamp WOOT!

Got all excited when I saw this. I confess ...spent some time here oo-ing and ahh-ing over the price. The sales person was lovely. She diplomatically stayed away and offered her services intermittently at just the right time ie to get the ones at the higher shelf for me.

The view from the toilet at level 6 Steffl

The ladies at the Steffl was at level 6. Yes now you know why I went all the way to Level 6. A good experience. Clean and with wide glass windows you can see the buildings across clearly. Imagine...(again yes I'm mozart-obsessed) Mozart may have seen this view all those years back. Maybe his inspiration came from this. Who knows? The man was a genius!

Hofburg Palace

It was a wet afternoon!

Hofburg Palace is another place which was listed on the must-see list in the brochure. I must confess I took this picture on Day 2 while walking about looking for interesting buildings and architecture. I found this just as my legs were giving out and I was wet from the ankles down. I was cold and hungry. So apart from these hots I didn't bother hanging around here too long. But now..as I sit in the comfort of my apartment many many thousand trillion miles away from Vienna, I think...damm I should have taken more shots and gone inside the building.

Another angle of the walls of Hofburg

Who knows I may have been fortunate to see the current President of Austria. It is now his seat in this current day. And if I were transported back to the days where royalty ruled and folks never showered unless absolutely needed...I may have been able to see carriages of the royal family as they leave their residence for a spot of sigh-seeing for air.

If you walk long enough you'll bound to find Hofburg Palace.

So here's a little history of Hofburg which I've gleaned from the internet. Just so if you were ever in Vienna you would do this building justice.
1. Hofburg is today the official residence of the President of Austria. ( Lucky him!)
2. It used to be the home of the Habsburg dynasty ( Lucky them...!)
3. You should take the U-bahn ( tube in normal language) and get off at U3/Herrengasse. And not walk about from Stephensplatz like me. It would save your legs extra pain. Seriously.

two shops in different eras

Old shopfront to the left of the cathedral

The other tourisy thing to do ( don't roll your eyes) is to buy stuff for friends and family. And this I did. Not an easy thing to find in Vienna. Or maybe because I was at the wrong area altogether. This quaint little shop was still closed when I walked pass. Look at the lettering above.And if you look closer you may make out a  wee gate at the door. I wonder whether this was what all the shops were like in the past.

Modern shopfront 

Then of course, I found this! No doubt about what they're selling. This was the first tourisy shop I found so I bought most of what I wanted here.

Aida

One of the many "Aida"s in town

You can tell from the weather what day this picture was taken. Hint! It rained tremendously the first morning day. Remember I was forced to buy an umbrella? I took this picture BEFORE I read about Aida in the brochure I found at the hotel where I stayed. It listed Aida as a place you would want to have coffee and cake at. Fancy that...my camera knew this was an important place before I did:)

THIS was on the list of things to eat at Aida

The brochure said we were to sit at Aida and have Sachertorte. This I did. I'm very obedient when it comes to comfort things really. Programmed that way I guess. This cake came with cream. No picture I do not want you to see the size of THAT dollop of cream I slurped through. Lovely! I want it again. But since I don't bake I'll have to hunt around the shopping centres and hope I find something close.

Coffee comes with a glass of water always. Why?

 Coffee was just the thing I needed having had a bad night's sleep due to a stuffed nose. The glass of water was presumably to wash down the caffeine? I'm not sure the timing of drinking the water...was it before, mid-way or after coffee.

Wiener Riesenrad

Praterstetn station where you exit

 I decided I would see this giant ferris wheel ( Wiener Risenrad) for myself. The night before enroute back in the taxi I saw it all lit up. I consulted the internet re tube stations to get off and this was it.

It looks small from a distance

 Was a little bit disappointed with the sheer size until I realised (duh) that it was further away than what I thought. Quite a bit of traffic mostly folks heading to work. I chose to take pictures from a distance and re-think my possible night visit for a better experience. ( I finally ended up attending the opera instead so no Riesenrad ride for me )

Clear signs!

 What I love about travelling on the tube in Vienna, the signs are so clear that you almost feel you're local and know where to go without hesitation. (Smug look) I stayed along linie U1 which conveniently leads you directly to Stephansdom:)

Caught this outside Praterstern station

Here's a lovely sight. Caught when I forgot to switch the zoom mode off my G10. The kid looks nice and snug in his seat. And mummy is making sure the helmet is fixed.

Statsoper Wien

I watched Don Carlo. ( Programme booklet )

 The opera house in Vienna has lovely architecture. My pictures don't do it justice so I've selected only one of the indoot shot for this post. It is every bit as amazing as you can imagine.

The view from where I sat.

 It looks like a scene from a movie, the crowds of people like little ants seated in their own boxes. Almost like a James Bond movie? Or would you say Phantom of the opera scene? Pick your choice.

Very steep very interesting and very scary

 THIS is what I had to walk down to where my seat was. If you have some diplopia you'll be sure to end up in a heap at the bottom all twisted and mangled. Thankfully everyone's eyes were well behaved and nobody else appeared to have suffered from a irrational fear of heights except me.

Intermission. To your right is where you head for some drinks

 We had a break. Very important for weak bladders, and a great chance to stretch your legs and walk down about 4 flights of stairs to where the drinks were being sold. I had a bottle of bubbled water and absorbed the atmosphere to the maximum.

Ticketing officer. Picture taken earlier in the day

I very nearly DIDN't make this opera. Sold out!!! But just around the corner were some folks selling tickets and I got mine. I had to crane my neck throughout the performance but I am sure you'ld agree with me....it WAS worth the creak in the neck and the 49 euros I paid. I want MORE!!!